Taking a break from marriage

Two new novels about living in limbo when spouses feel the need to separate

Photos

Since the 19th century, upper crust New York marriages have been chronicled, analyzed and salivated over — from books (“The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund”) to TV shows (“Gossip Girl”) to movies (“The Age of Innocence”) as well as in the society pages (fill in blue-blooded surnames here).

Current fiction and non-fiction accounts usually involve Wall Street-types with mistresses and are always one tabloid headline away from dividing considerable assets, which often include Fifth/Madison/Park Avenue real estate with a Hamptons/Aspen house chaser.

For a refreshing change, two new novels, both set on the Upper East Side, tackle the subject of spouses who feel they need a break, as opposed to a breakup.

Separation is a complex subject that can be quite traumatic. A cursory internet search led to the insight that being married but living apart may be even more stressful than being divorced, because when you’re separated you’re neither here nor there; you’re in marriage limbo.

The first book to address this is “Marriage Vacation,” a byproduct of the TVLand show “Younger,” which has just returned for a fifth season. Published by Simon & Schuster, it’s faux-authored by the series’s fictional character Pauline Turner Brooks, played by Jennifer Westfeldt.

For those who don’t tune in, Pauline decided that taking care of her two children and husband, publisher Charles (Peter Hermann), was no longer fulfilling and takes off on an eat-pray-love journey to Thailand.

Upon returning to the family’s East 82nd Street townhouse after many months, Pauline not only wants to reclaim her marriage, but have the story of their separation published by Charles’s company and edited by 40-masquerading-as-20-something employee Liza (Sutton Foster).

Those who watch the program know Pauline has already lost her husband’s heart to Liza despite the fact that her uplifting memoir is out and bound for best-seller glory.

Unfortunately, that will not be the fate of the actual book, which is nothing more than a bit of PR gimmickry to promote the series.

As a standalone piece of reading material, one might be able to understand what prompted Pauline’s mid-life crisis and cheer for her new perspective on her life, but the majority of the book centers on her soul-searching adventures in Southeast Asia, which aren’t all that engaging. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are a super fan of “Younger” and want a souvenir.

On the other hand, there is “The Intermission,” the second novel by Elyssa Friedland (Berkley, July 3rd). Told in alternating chapters by the husband and wife, Jonathan and Cass Coyne, this is a portrait of a marriage at a crossroads after a pregnancy goes awry.

Friedland has created well-drawn characters who, by all appearances, are functioning just fine with their new normal, yet are struggling internally, not just with what to do about their relationship, but how to maneuver the associations they’ve cultivated in their current, semi-single lives.

Cass and Jon, who are co-parenting their dog, meet up once a month to do a pet handoff. They have both started dating again; he with a sweetheart from his Park Avenue youth, and she with Hollywood types in her temporary home of Los Angeles.

During one pet exchange, Jon (the abandoned party) is taken aback at how good Cass looks with a healthy tan, while he feels so bad.

When she finds out who her rival is, Cass begins to wonder if Jon ever stopped loving his former girlfriend, even after they got married. She also discovers the hard way that when you go on a date and your suitor finds out you have a husband, albeit one who’s three thousand miles away, it can put a damper on the evening.

Then there is the sharing of the news with friends and family, who often treat the situation with the gossipy sensitivity one gives soap opera characters. Although “The Intermission” does a better job than “Vacation,” both books show that living apart can take its toll on all involved, but that sometimes a break — not a breakup — can be what’s needed to remember the value of what you have.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of the novel “Back to Work She Goes,” about a SAHM trying to re-enter the workforce.